Tuesday 9 August 2011 10.22 EDT
First published on Tuesday 9 August 2011 10.22 EDT

Parliament will be recalled on Thursday so MPs can debate the riots that have engulfed London and are spreading across Britain, David Cameron has announced.

In a statement given outside No 10 Downing Street, the prime minister also said the number of police officers on the streets of London on Tuesday night would be increased by 10,000 to 16,000 and all leave would be cancelled.

There would also be many more arrests, he said, and court proceedings would be speeded up to enable offenders to be punished quickly.

Cameron spoke after a meeting of the government's emergency committee, Cobra,which was attended by senior ministers including the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, and Theresa May, the home secretary, as well as Tim Godwin, the acting commissioner of the Metropolitan police.

"People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and make them safe for the law-abiding," Cameron said.

But although some MPs have been calling for curfews, the involvement of the army and the deployment of water cannon, the prime minister has – at least for now – rejected such hardline proposals, which he did not mention in his statement.

According to government sources, the police did not ask for any of these measures, although nothing has been ruled out if the situation continues to deteriorate.

In his statement, Cameron strongly condemned the violence. "These are sickening scenes – scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing, scenes of people attacking police officers and even attacking fire crews as they are trying to put out fires," he said.

"This is criminality, pure and simple, and it has to be confronted and defeated."

The prime minister said he felt "huge sympathy" for the families who had suffered and the businesses "who have seen their premises smashed, their products looted and their livelihoods potentially ruined".

He added: "People should be in no doubt that we are on the side of the law-abiding people who are appalled by what has happened in their own communities.

"As ever, police officers have shown incredible bravery on our streets in confronting these thugs. But it is quite clear that we need more, much more, police on our streets and we need even more robust police action."

All police leave within the Met has been cancelled, and police in London will be receiving help from other forces. Later on Tuesday Cameron is expected to visit a police operations centre.

He said: "I am determined, the government is determined, that justice will be done, and these people will see the consequences of their actions.

"And I have this very clear message for those people who are responsible for this wrongdoing and criminality. You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishment.

"And to these people I would say this: you are not only wrecking the lives of others, you are not only wrecking your own communities, you are potentially wrecking your own life, too."

On Thursday Cameron will make a statement to MPs about the situation. There will also be a full parliamentary debate, which will be opened by a statement from May, but the government is not proposing any emergency legislation.

After making his statement outside Downing Street, Cameron visited Scotland Yard's Gold Command headquarters in Lambeth, south London, before going on to Croydon to inspect the damage caused by rioters on Monday night.

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, also took to the streets of London to speak to people affected by the violence. "We need firm action from the police. There must be no no-go areas for the police and public order is the immediate priority," said Miliband, after a visit to Peckham.

Miliband, who, like Cameron, broke off his holiday to return to London for the crisis, said that he supported the actions being taken by the government.

"People have different views about the complex causes of what happened but there are no excuses for it," Miliband said.

"I think it is right that substantially more police officers are being put on the street because we all know that the situation on the streets needs to be got under control.

"The public safety of our citizens, the ability for them to go about their business in a lawful way, is an absolute priority for any government and for any country. That is what we need to see happen as soon as possible. Action needs to be taken today."